Trials set for terror suspects over church blast in Medan

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

A court here said on Thursday the trials of suspected Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) members charged with bombing three churches in the North Sumatra capital of Medan in 2000 would begin next week.

Medan District Court spokesman Binsar Gultom said the trials had been scheduled to start on Thursday but were postponed until Feb. 26.

He said the postponement was forced because the court was hearing other cases on Thursday.

Binsar said the suspected bombers included Awaluddin Sitorus, alias Abu Yasar, Indra Warman, alias Toni Togar, Hambali, Faiz Bin Abu Bakar Bafana and Imam Samudra.

Two other suspects in the bombings, Jabir and Nasrullah, are still at large.

Hambali, the alleged JI leader, is being detained by the United States and Samudra has been sentenced to death for the October 2002 Bali blasts that killed 202 people, while Faiz is being held in Malaysia.

Hambali was arrested in Thailand and handed over to the U.S., and Indonesian police are still waiting to interrogate the suspect.

Binsar stressed that the trials would begin on Feb. 26 and that the court hoped to present all of the suspects charged with planning the bombings of the three churches on May 28, 2000.

Prosecutors say Hambali and Samudra arrived in Medan in March 2000, two months before the bombings, and stayed overnight at the Ibunda Hotel on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in Medan.

In Medan, Hambali and Samudra planned the bombings with the other defendants, they said.

The explosion at the GKPI Church in the Padang Bulan complex left numerous people injured.

Binsar, who will be one of the judges hearing the case against the defendants, acknowledged it would be difficult for the court to present all of the defendants given that some were being detained outside of Medan.

However, he said the court would insist on summoning all of the defendants.

"All of the defendants must attend the trial at the Medan District Court because they all planned the blasts at the three churches," Binsar said.